Last week, after frustrated activists from Myanmar sent an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, they got something unexpected: a reply. The activists, representing six civil society organizations, harshly criticized Mr. Zuckerberg in the letter, saying he had mischaracterized Facebook’s response to violence-inciting messages in Myanmar and had not devoted sufficient […]
Myanmar’s Approach to India
April 5, 2018 by
Myanmar can be described as the quintessential small state whose foreign policy is impinged on by the overtures of its larger neighbors — China and India. That is in part due to its geographical location impacting Myanmar’s policy formulation, but also a reflection of the fact that, historically, Myanmar’s military rule has led to global […]
How the West won and lost Myanmar
April 4, 2018 by
When former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi and her long persecuted National League for Democracy party won election in 2015, Western nations which maintained sanctions against the previous rights-abusing military regime cheered the democratic result and hoped for transition. Suu Kyi was subsequently feted in various European capitals, including Oslo, where she received her […]
Myanmar President Calls for Reform of Nation’s Military-Drafted Constitution
January 13, 2018 by
YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar’s civilian president called in an Independence Day speech on Thursday for reform of a military-drafted constitution and for justice for all recognized minorities under a federal system, but made no mention of the treatment of its Rohingya Muslim people. Amending the charter to remove a dominant political role for the military […]
Myanmar Says U.S. Sanctions Against General Based on ‘Unreliable Accusations’
January 1, 2018 by
(Reuters) – Myanmar “feels sad” over a U.S. decision to sanction a military general, a government spokesman said, after Washington linked the commander last week to abuses against the Rohingya Muslim minority. “This targeted sanction is based on unreliable accusations without evidence, as we have repeatedly said, so we feel sad for that,” Zaw Htay, […]
Bouygues, Kajima, Taisei win $1.1bn of Work in Myanmar
December 2, 2017 by
While international attention is focussed on the plight of more than 800,000 Rohingya Muslims forced from their homes in Myanmar’s Northern Rakhine state and sheltering in refugee camps in Bangladesh, the increase in foreign investment into Myanmar continues, leading to a rush to build modern office complexes in Yangon, the country’s commercial capital. Today it […]
Off-Grid Electricity Projects Are Starved for Funds
October 25, 2017 by
Despite innovative off-grid technology and high-profile initiatives, electrification in sub-Saharan Africa still trails population growth. In 2009 there were 585 million people in the region without power. Five years later, that figure had risen to 632 million, according to the latest International Energy Agency statistics. A first-of-its-kind analysis of the flow of capital, released in […]
Myanmar eyes China’s trade plan for much-needed infrastructure, as crisis in Rakhine goes on
October 10, 2017 by
Minister for Construction U Win Khaing told the Asean and Asia Forum in Singapore on Thursday that his country needed to improve its infrastructure quickly to cope with the mass internal migration to its cities. The government had been in contact with various potential partners, including China and Japan, promoting Myanmar as a hub to […]
